Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-06-11
SICKNESS in THE ressMenrs.
The Great Foe OF the Poor-Some Start
ling Facts and Figures.

The Great Foe Of the Poor-Some Start
ling Facts and Figures.
Sickness next to enforced idleness Is
the great foe of the poor. Il ID far
worse than intemperance because it as
sails the thrifty as well as the debased,
and prostrates the bread winner and the
mother upon whom depend the support
and care of the whole family. Death
finds his richest harvest among children;
sickness most affiicts their elders. The
records of the Demilt dispensary for
twenty-five years show that 261 ,515
children were treated against S31 ,402
adults. OF the second total the females
were so per cent. in excess OF the males,
which well illustrates how unsanitary in
fuences tell most upon women, who are
constantly at home or who work at un-
wholesome trades. ..s.,f..s .sss.sst
The report Of the New York orthopoe-
die dispensary and hospital for 1883
shows that lat patients treated were
s'cured,' and 303 were discharged as
relieved" But where are such pa
TENTS to go? They are too weak to work.
and the noisy tenement, with its cramped
quarters, is not fit place for them. One
can scarcely imagine greater discomfort
than that of the convalescent amid the
noise, foulness and disorder Of the average
tenement rooms, where cooking, wash
ing and other domestic duties must be
carried on, and where quiet, pure air,
repose, careful nursing and nourishing
food, all SO indispensable to the patients
recovery, are entirely wanting. Only
those who have visited the sick in tene-
nents and found them listless, weak and
wretched, often with no company or the
companionship of noisy, fretful children
or drunken husbands, with all the tumult
of the street. the cries of peddlers, the
roar of the elevated railroad, the chatter
of sewing machines, the uproar of noisy
children at play and the sounds Of quar-
reling and fighting from neighboring
rooms, and has seen the coarse and
tasteless and i'll prepared food which is
their only choice, can appreciate their
misery.
One of the greatest needs In all our
large cities is home for convalescents,
where the worthy poor who leave the
hospital weakened by long illness, with
no immediate prospect of earning bread,
if indeed work can be found, can obtain
quiet, comfort and proper food and
nursing. Such an institution should be
located in the country or at the seaside,
and would be a vast benefit to the COM
munity. sHt I'D Ai 8&t
The following circumstance illustrates
the i'll effects Of tenement house life upon
health: A dispensary physician of large
experience expressed his surprise that
women recover from confnements 50
easily in tenements. A mother viii be
able to sit up in a day or two after a
birth, and they rarely rest abed longer
than q week. A woman nurse, how
ever, told different story. Necessity,
she said, forced mothers to forego proper
rest, and a large proportion suffered
permanent injury in consequence. No
male physician could truly know the
real state of the poor because he could
not gain their confidence as q woman
would. Patients frequently complained
of the harshness and want of con-
sideration Of dispensary physicians. In
one case doctor made a woman get out
of bed and come into the front room, 30
that he could examine her tongue instead
of calling for a light The poor are
specially sensitive to any lack of con-
sideration of their feelings.
Many families become destitute be-
cause the mothers cannot go to work
from having to nurse sick children.
Another common cause Of distress is the
sickness of mothers who in health could
easily support their families. The sad
dest of cases belong to the latter class,
where poor mothers are found sick In
bed, some of the children also sick and
all suffering for the ,necessaries of life.
During seasons Of depression many
parents are compelled to seek employ,
ment for very young children. In thirty
nine cases investigated in an industrial
school the 81 or So thus earned weekly
by the children was the sole support OF O
whole family. View York journal